JetBlue For Good: Why This Airline Cares So Damn Much

In the wake of the country’s most recent school shooting, one airline stepped up in a big way. Here, a look at philanthropic giving in the travel industry—and how one woman at the helm of JetBlue’s efforts is making major strides.

On Valentine’s Day, after a lone shooter entered Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida, and took the lives of 17 people, Icema Gibbs knew it was time to get to work.

Gibbs isn’t a South Florida native or a school teacher, but rather, JetBlue’s director of corporate social responsibility. “Whenever there is a disaster—manmade or natural—if there is an opportunity for us to help, we do: specifically, if it’s a city that we serve or a city that really is near and dear to our crew members,” says Gibbs, who has been with the airline since its inception in 1999.

In the aftermath of the shooting, JetBlue, which has more than 5,000 workers who call Florida home, flew victims’ families to and from the Sunshine State for free, provided complimentary ground transportation via Lyft to and from the airport, and set up a blood drive, where blood was donated to local blood banks to help replenish the inventory that was depleted following the shooting.

JetBlue is not alone—other airlines have practiced corporate social responsibility for years now.

Southwest often joins forces with relief partners such as Americares to assist in disaster relief; American—which focuses giving on the U.S. military, improving the lives of people in need, and the future—donated more 20 million miles to local charities last year; and just last year, Delta—which has a 75-year long partnership with the American Red Cross—announced that it would contribute one percent of its net income to charity.

“Philanthropy is an important pillar for the travel industry and especially airlines,” Mike Rea, CEO of Tourism Cares, a non-profit that’s a charitable arm of the travel industry. “Travel and giving are about people, and at heart, people give to change other people’s lives.”

The reasoning for corporate giving is generally two-fold: One, it’s good for business; two, regardless of any bottom-line impact, there’s a genuine desire to make a difference, says Kris Putnam-Walkerly, a leader in philanthropic strategy development.

Customers are also starting to demand it: Research from market research and data company Nielsen finds that globally, 66 percent of people will spend more on a product if the company behind that product is socially responsible or sustainable.

And while JetBlue is not alone in its philanthropy, in many ways, a lower budget has set its creative giving strategies apart. “When we started out, people were writing big checks and putting their name outside of gymnasiums,” Gibbs says. “We just didn't have those dollars.”

When we started the airline, we wanted to bring humanity back to air travel. Now we want to inspire humanity and make a difference in humanity.

In 2005, the airline formed its charitable strategy, JetBlue For Good, which focuses 80 percent of the company’s giving resources on three main pillars: youth and education, community, and the environment. Both customers and crew members weighed in on the strategy, Gibbs says.

Since then, they've sought out partnerships, sometimes with smaller companies that “aren’t looking for carbon copy, easily duplicated programs off the shelf.” In conjunction with one such company, KaBOOM!—a nonprofit headquartered in Washington, D.C. that builds safe play areas for children in poverty-stricken areas—the airline has helped to create 27 playgrounds for more than 60,000 children.

“We might not be able to write really big checks, but we try to have meaningful relationships with our partners, be strategic about the things that we do, build programs that last, and move the needle for social change,” says Gibbs.

In 2013, JetBlue was even the first airline to launch a foundation solely focused on aviation-related education. “There are several reports that say in next 15 to 20 years, there won’t be enough pilots. People aren't going into the field,” says Gibbs. “We realized we had to help ourselves.”

The JetBlue Foundation promotes aviation to the next generation, entering lower-income neighborhoods and schools to showcase jobs—something that's particularly important for both young women and minorities, both of whom are under-represented in the field of aviation. Women make up approximately five percent of the commercial pilot industry in the U.S., and Gibbs says that today, there are fewer than 100 African-American female commercial pilots. The foundation also hosts camps and even runs a program called Fly Like a Girl, bringing young women to hangars, introducing them to the industry. “The fact that we’re still having these types of conversations shows that there is a need," says Gibbs.

In the future, Gibbs hopes that this kind of deep social impact grows to have even more measurable results.

“We want to continue to dig deeper for social change and not just do initiatives or be philanthropic—but be strategically philanthropic,” she says. “When we started the airline, we wanted to bring humanity back to air travel. Now we want to inspire humanity and make a difference in humanity.”